When you get bad news the last thing you think about is how to cope with it. For some people it may be so devastating that they should really get credit for getting out of bed and breathing in and out all day, go to bed and do the same thing the following morning. Truth is, do we ever get given a proper strategy? We get taught so many things in today’s society, how to become successful, how become wealthy, how to live a healthy life. Nobody tells you when you grow up, what to do when your worst nightmare becomes reality. How do we stay healthy when we get life changing, or even horrifying news?

Ethan Kross, PhD, an assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Michigan, who has co-authored studies on the subject. He suggests that rather than dive into the grief or deny it and move on; we should just distance our self from the situation. Almost look at it from above, as if you were an onlooker to the situation.

One of his studies provides experimental evidence that self-distancing techniques improve cardiovascular recovery from negative emotions. Other studies show that the technique helps protect against depression.

Our first instinct is likely to be an overwhelming of emotions, but instead we should look at the situation from a distance as if it was someone else’s experience. Maybe ask ourselves what we would advise somebody else that went through this. How would we strategise, and how would we advise to get through it.

Some people may disagree and say that to really get the true value out of the situation you have to properly feel it, and eventually you will understand it. This maybe true, but when you are that deeply in crisis I guess it wouldn't hurt trying his theory.